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pumpkinspies 's review for:
The Crown Tower
by Michael J. Sullivan
I received this book in a generous giveaway hosted by the publisher in August 2013. I was (and am still largely) ignorant of the series it prequels and of the later story lines. I did no research into Michael Sullivan and his literary adventures. His brief description of this book on Goodreads assured me I wouldn't need any of this to appreciate and follow the book. I enjoy testing such assurances.
I'll admit that the early stages of delving into The Crown Tower were slow. I'd read five pages, put it down. Another five pages, put it down. It was not that the story was slow-starting in that nothing happened; when we meet Hadrien, he's quickly met by a thieving gang, joined by the unusual but eager-to-please Pickles, and hurried onto a barge mere hours after making land.
What made engaging in this book slow and at first tedious was the apparent disconnect of multiple story lines. I had no idea why I was supposed to care about Hadrian (and although he seems like an okay guy, I still don't, in all honesty) or Gwen. I only knew about this prophecy, but that didn't come along till several mentions of Gwen later when I'd nearly forgotten I was supposed to be looking for it. I found myself much more immersed in Gwen's story, and find myself debating continuing the series if only to find out what she's supposed to be to the Good Cop/Bad Cop newly-friends.
Somewhere about midway I began to find myself getting more invested in these characters--my favorites being Gwen, Rose, and Royce (not necessarily in that order)--and that's about where the story picked up for me. The introduction of a professor (Was it only me who thought of Rowling's Dumbledore when meeting Professor Arcadius?) created a sense of intrigue; it's rare to actually meet the manipulator of the sequence of events to follow before the last book, and to have him be what appears to be an ally. The character plot twist at the end, which I won't discuss in detail, really cinched the series for me because it opened up an entirely new realm of questions and answers.
If only all books provided such a turn around of opinions from beginning to end, I'm sure I'd have a lot more books on my To Read shelf!
I'll admit that the early stages of delving into The Crown Tower were slow. I'd read five pages, put it down. Another five pages, put it down. It was not that the story was slow-starting in that nothing happened; when we meet Hadrien, he's quickly met by a thieving gang, joined by the unusual but eager-to-please Pickles, and hurried onto a barge mere hours after making land.
What made engaging in this book slow and at first tedious was the apparent disconnect of multiple story lines. I had no idea why I was supposed to care about Hadrian (and although he seems like an okay guy, I still don't, in all honesty) or Gwen. I only knew about this prophecy, but that didn't come along till several mentions of Gwen later when I'd nearly forgotten I was supposed to be looking for it. I found myself much more immersed in Gwen's story, and find myself debating continuing the series if only to find out what she's supposed to be to the Good Cop/Bad Cop newly-friends.
Somewhere about midway I began to find myself getting more invested in these characters--my favorites being Gwen, Rose, and Royce (not necessarily in that order)--and that's about where the story picked up for me. The introduction of a professor (Was it only me who thought of Rowling's Dumbledore when meeting Professor Arcadius?) created a sense of intrigue; it's rare to actually meet the manipulator of the sequence of events to follow before the last book, and to have him be what appears to be an ally. The character plot twist at the end, which I won't discuss in detail, really cinched the series for me because it opened up an entirely new realm of questions and answers.
If only all books provided such a turn around of opinions from beginning to end, I'm sure I'd have a lot more books on my To Read shelf!